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Omri Casspi, 1st Israeli to Play in the NBA Retires After 20 Plus Years

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By: Marvin Azrak

After a year which saw Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer become the first Israeli hurler to throw in the big leagues, the first NBA player out of the iconic Jewish state, is hanging up his basketball sneakers.

Omri Casspi, who made history by becoming the first Israeli player to make the NBA, has now retired from playing professional basketball. “Basketball has given me a lot over the years. I reached the peaks of European and world basketball that I never dreamed of,” he said on Sunday,“I did not believe I’d make those dreams come true.”

Casspi, 33, began his career with Maccabi Tel Aviv, an Israeli team, and made history in 2009 when he was selected in the NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. That was the same draft class as NBA superstar, Stephan Curry, who Omri would become teammates with in 2018, capturing a championship ring during the Golden State Warriors five year dynasty. A forward, he began his career at age 21, and immediately showed promise, going for 10.3 points per game, while averaging 25 minutes across 77 NBA contests.

That was enough for him to be selected to NBA all-star weekend, as he participated in the “Futures game”, which posses all the bright young stars in the league. But after only playing 71 of a possible 82 games in 2011, averaging 8.6 points one assist, and three rebounds over 24 minutes per game, Sacramento shipped Omri off that Summer to the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers, along with a first round pick for then Cavs star, JJ Hickson. Casspi would spend his age 23, and 24 seasons in Ohio, appearing in 36 games, and averaging 5.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in 17 minutes of action across 108 affairs. The youngster was struggling to find his way amongst the best hardwood players the word had to offer, but was given a boost of confidence in the Summer of 2013, when he, and the Houston Rockets agreed to a 2 year, worth $2million in Free Agency.

Little did Omri know that back home, kids were aspiring to be him, and make millions in the National Basketball Association just like him. An example of this came on November 1st of that year, when Casspi and the Rockets faced off against fellow countryman and former Tel Aviv teammate, Gael Mekel and the Dallas Mavericks. The contest was tight throughout with Houston coming away victorious on their home floor 113-105, with Gael adding on 11 points one rebound, and six assists in 22:48 for the visitors, while Omri would too reach double figures, pouring in 12 points in 21:14 for the victors.

In the Spring of 2014, Omri Casppi got to experience his first NBA playoff action, as the fourth seeded Rockets(54-28) faced off against the fifth-seed Portland Trail Blazers(54-28) in the first round. Unfortunately for Omri, he didn’t appear in any of the playoff games that series and Houston was ousted in six games with the nail in the coffin being a buzzer-beating three pointer by Portland’s Damien Lillard, putting an end to the Rockets season. That offseason, Casspi was dealt in a trade to the New Orleans Pelicans, before being waived and re-upping with Sacramento, after averaging 6.9 points, and 2.9 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per game across 71 games over his two seasons in the lone star state.

Looking for a second wind in his NBA tenure Omri made–name for himself on April 7 2015, when he put on a show with 31 points, making 12-20 shots, being the main contributor in a 116-11 Kings win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But it was on December 28 2015, when Casspi had a performance to remember. it was when the then 12-18 Kings battled with the 28-1 reigning-champion Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Up against the 2015 MVP in Stephen Curry, Casspi had the game of his life going for a career-high 36 points ( nine of them 3’s) in a 122-103 Sacramento loss. In February of 2017, Omri would be dealt to the Pelicans along with teammate Demarcus Cousins, but had fared better in his second stint as a King, playing in 136 games from 2014-2017(Half of last season), averaging 24.15 minutes, and 8.9 points. Omri would find his way to the Warriors, a few months after breaking his thumb in his Pelicans debut, going for 12 points In a 129-99 loss to tie Rockets.

On Golden state in 2018, Omri would appear in 53 games, averaging 5.7 points, and 3.2 rebounds across 14 minutes a contest. Omri though would get hurt again, and bereaved by the Warriors To make space for Quin cook on the playoff roster, prompting coach Steve Kerr to say “We love Omri and what he brought to the team…It was difficult to sit with him and tell him we were going to do this.”

So Casspi would look on from the suite, as Golden State would vanquish the San Antonio Spurs in five games(4-1), take care of the Pelicans in five, oust the Rockets in a tightly-contested seven game series, before sweeping away LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Warriors second straight title, and first and only one of Omri Casspi’s career, as he was later presented with a championship ring by GM Bob Myers. The following season in Memphis with the Grizzlies was the last we saw of Omri on an NBA floor, as he would tear his meniscus in February of 2019, and would later he cut by the organization. Casspi played in 588 games (Started 145 of them), and average 7.9 points, 3.2rebounds, and 1.1 assists, participating in 20.3 minutes per contest.

Omri, then 30 years old in 2019, would return to Israel, and signed a three-year-deal with the Maccabi Tel Aviv, and received player of the month honors in October of that year, after averaging 11.3 points five rebounds, three assists, and 1.8 steals over that span. Casspi would finish the season averaging 12 points across 21.2 minutes per game, with a .636 shooting % in six games for his new team.

In 2021, Caspi’s last season of pro-ball, he would appear in 16 games, and average four points for a Tel Aviv team that would go onto win the 2021 “Winners league” championship, defeating Hapoel-Gilboa 2 games to one, for its 55th title in franchise history, also helping Omri Casspi ride off into retirement on a high note. Today, Omri has paved way for Israeli NBA players with Deni Advija of Washington Wizards, who was selected ninth overall in the 2020 draft.

Overall, Omri was never the type of basketball player that would blow you away with his skill set, but his hard work and determination allowed him to not only make history for his country, but stick around in the NBA for a decade, and even win a title becoming a role model that others of the Jewish State can follow. On behalf of jewish basketball fans everywhere, we wish Omri Casspi good luck in retirement, and thank him for his basketball inspiration, touching us all.

Marvin Azrak is a member of the Jewish Voice student journalists initiative program. He specializes in sports writing

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